


wake up

by fangirlingtodeath513



Series: Season 14 Codas [6]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Episode: s14e09 Coda, Episode: s14e09 The Spear, M/M, Needles, Possessed Dean Winchester, Post-Episode: s14e09 The Spear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-21 18:53:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17048708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirlingtodeath513/pseuds/fangirlingtodeath513
Summary: Dean's trapped in his own mind, and it's up to Sam and Cas to get him out.





	wake up

Everything’s a blur of motion after Michael’s snap. 

 

Castiel had planned for this, because as much as he’d like to believe they can win, he’s used to preparing for the worst, especially when it comes to the Winchesters. He’s got Bobby’s altered angel cuffs on Michael’s wrists in seconds, before the archangel even realizes he’s nearby. They must work because all he gets in response is a glare from ice cold green eyes.

 

“Release me, Castiel.  _ Now. _ ”

 

It sends a shiver through him, hearing his name from the voice he’s become so accustomed to, but it’s unquestionably not Dean. Not  _ his _ Dean. 

 

“No.” He sounds confident and defiant, which is more than he’s feeling right now. Despite preparing for it, he’d hoped with everything he had that Michael wouldn’t take Dean again. 

 

Michael continues to glare at him, but depowered he’s not nearly as scary. Still scary, since he’s in Dean’s thoroughly trained body, but not at full archangel power.

 

He sees Sam and Jack watching him, so he turns to them with a weary sigh, waving off their questions. “Let’s just get him back to the bunker. We can figure out what to do from there.”

 

“What about the people here?”

 

Castiel frowns. “There are other hunters on the way. Besides, I’m not sure it went through once I cut his power off.”

 

Sam glances at Jack, his gaze lingering for a moment before he turns back to Castiel. “Go. Dean’s got the Impala keys, just take him home. Jack and I will hang back and help out as much as we can.” 

 

He wants to argue. The irrational part of his brain yells at him to argue, but deep down he knows Sam is right. He wants nothing more than to get Michael back to the bunker where he can’t hurt anyone else, but of course they have to protect the people here. Cas nods his agreement, turning back to Michael once Sam and Jack leave. 

 

Michael’s smirking at him. It makes him more than a little uneasy, especially when that expression is one Dean uses often. It’s visibly different and he can tell it’s not Dean, but that doesn’t help the uneasiness. 

 

“Keys, hm? Why don’t you come find ‘em, sunshine?”

 

Cas barely keeps himself from snarling. Instead, he pulls a deep breath in through his nose and grabs the chain between the cuffs, careful to keep the archangel’s hands secure while he fishes the car keys out of Dean’s pocket. 

 

Somehow, he manages to get the archangel in the Impala. He keeps him on the passenger’s side, because despite being depowered, he’s still in Dean’s highly skilled body. He wouldn’t put it past Michael to attack while he was driving.

 

Even with Michael in the opposite side of the car, Cas finds his gaze sliding to him every minute. For most of the ride, Michael ignores him and sits there with his head bowed and his eyes closed. It’s disturbing, frankly, but he doesn’t want to let Michael know he feels that way. Instead, he keeps his eyes on the road and gets them back to the bunker safely. 

 

Mary and Bobby are there when he pulls into the garage. They must gather something’s wrong because both of them take a step back as Cas steps out of the car. With a weary sigh, he pulls Michael out of the car. 

  
“Ah, the cavalry’s arrived. Not that you’ll be able to do anything, but I’m sure Dean would appreciate the effort, if he knew.”

 

It takes every ounce of self control Castiel possesses to keep from shoving Michael into the depths of the bunker. Instead, he grabs onto the handcuff chain and uses it to lead the archangel through the bunker. He thinks about locking him in Dean’s room, but all of Dean’s personal things are in there and he doesn’t really want this monster anywhere near them. Instead, he opts for their never-used dungeon. It’s completely bare, save for heavy chains coming up from the floor and warding for just about every magical being ever, some old and faded from the original Men of Letters, and many he and the Winchesters had added over the years. It won’t be comfortable, but it’s sufficiently warded and it’ll keep Michael where they need him, until they can figure out how to get rid of him. Hopefully once and for all.

 

As Cas is turning to leave, Michael shudders and when he looks up at Cas again, it’s Dean looking at him. Before Dean can even move or say anything, Cas steps out of the dungeon and slams the door shut. 

 

He finds Mary and Bobby in the library, huddled together whispering. He clears his throat to announce his arrival, mostly so they can decide if they want him to hear what they’re whispering about. He knows the value of a secret, especially now.

 

“Cas, we were just talking about… him,” Mary starts, waving him over. “First of all, where’s Sam and Jack?”

 

“They stayed behind to assist the other hunters in Kansas City. I would’ve stayed, but,” he gestures back the way he came, letting the sentence drop off. Bobby and Mary nod at him, glancing at each other before Bobby speaks up.

 

“Mary thinks there might be a way to pull him out of wherever Michael stuck him. She mentioned that Dean used some machine to get to her when she was trapped in her mind. Can we use that on him?”

 

Cas frowns. It’s a good idea, and it might work… “Michael would know we were coming. We’d have no way of knowing what we were walking into, or where to even begin looking for Dean. But it’s certainly worth a shot.” Cas tilts his head when Mary hides a yawn. “You should both get some sleep. Sam and Jack won’t be back for a while, and I won’t do anything without them here. We can plan further in the morning.” 

 

With a nod and a wave, Mary and Bobby both head down the hallway toward the bedroom. Cas doesn’t sleep, and even if he did, he’d find it more than a little difficult, at the moment. Instead, he heads to Dean’s room. He’s got nowhere else to be, and he’s more comfortable in here than he is anywhere else. He puts one of Dean’s records on, lowering the volume so it won’t carry through the bunker. 

 

The next time he opens his eyes, Sam and Jack are standing at the foot of the bed, their eyebrows raised at him. Cas shrugs, shifting off the bed and switching the record player off. “How did it go?”

 

“It was… as good as we could expect, I guess. There were some casualties, but we managed to avoid most of them.” Sam rubs at his eyes, clearly exhausted. “Where’s Dean?”

 

“Michael’s in the dungeon. I figured it would be the safest place to house him, he doesn’t have access to anything but the chains he’s attached to in there.” 

 

Sam nods his agreement, yawning. “So what’s our next move?”

 

Cas frowns at him. “ _ Your _ next move is to go get some sleep.” He turns his gaze to Jack. “ _ Both _ of you. Michael’s not going anywhere, and you won’t be any help if you’re exhausted.” Sam opens his mouth to argue, but Cas cuts him off with a glare. “Go get some sleep. I have some things to prepare before we can deal with Michael anyway.” 

 

Sam sighs, but he knows better than to argue, so he and Jack head to their respective rooms. Cas straightens out the blankets on Dean’s bed before heading to the bunker’s infirmary. He busies himself with preparing everything and shuffling it into the library. By the time Sam and Jack wake up, Cas, Mary and Bobby are quietly discussing how to go about their plan. 

 

“What’s this?” Sam glances between the three of them before his eyes settle on the familiar machine. 

 

“We can use it to find Dean in his mind and get him to expel Michael.” Cas glances at the machine, frowning. “Hopefully.” 

 

Sam nods. “Alright. Who’s going?”

 

“Mary and Bobby agreed that they should stay behind for protection. And I think this is something Jack should sit out.”

 

“Agreed.” Jack pouts at them, but Sam and Cas both shake their heads. 

 

“It’s too dangerous, Jack. Sam and I probably aren’t even prepared enough, but we have to at least try.”

 

He and Sam retrieve Michael from the dungeon, Cas leading him with the handcuff chain while Sam hovers nearby in case Michael decides to try anything. They get him strapped into a chair; Sam busies himself attaching the electrodes while Cas draws some of the hallucinogenic sedative into the syringe, tapping out the air bubbles before turning to Michael.

 

He’s surprisingly quiet. Cas had expected to be taunted the entire time, but Michael’s barely said a word. That only frightens him more for what’s to come in Dean’s mind.

 

Biting back the apology lingering on his tongue, he sticks the needle in Dean’s neck and sighs with relief when the sedative kicks in quickly. He swaps the needle for another one, injecting Sam once he has the second set of electrodes on. Swapping the needle out once more, he attaches a third set of electrodes to his own head and flicks the machine on, handing the needle off to Mary and baring his neck to her.

 

The next thing he knows, he’s standing next to Sam in a pitch black room. 

 

“Where are we?” Sam whispers, shuffling closer to Castiel in the darkness. 

 

“Dean’s mind.”

 

“Why’s it so… dark?”

 

Cas glances around with a frown. “I don’t know. My best guess would be Michael’s trying to prevent us from finding Dean.”

 

“Great. So how do we escape from him  _ and _ find Dean?”

 

“You don’t.” The reply comes from somewhere in the darkness, on their right. It’s undoubtedly Dean’s voice, but Cas knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that it isn’t Dean. “He’s hidden quite well, if I do say so myself. You won’t find him, and you  _ certainly _ won’t escape me.” 

 

The footsteps are faint, so faint that he doubts Sam can hear them, but Cas certainly can. He grabs Sam’s arm, pulling him in the opposite direction of Michael’s voice and footsteps. 

 

After what feels like forever walking, they find themselves in a park. It’s fall, judging by the colorful leaves on the trees, and they’re completely alone. It’s nowhere Cas has ever seen, and Sam doesn’t seem to have a clue where they are either.

 

“Come on.” Cas murmurs, leading the way deeper into the park. They stumble on a plaid picnic blanket with a picnic basket on one side. There’s a bottle of wine, two glasses that have clearly been used, and a half-eaten lunch. When he and Sam look around, though, there’s no one else in sight. 

 

“What is this? Dean’s not here, obviously. Was he before?”

 

Cas shrugs. “No way to tell. I’d guess this was somewhere Michael tried to keep him to begin with, and he realized it wasn’t real. You never had picnics?”

 

Sam snorts. “Yeah, like our dad took us on picnics. No. I don’t know if he had any when he was younger but I doubt it. Kinda seems like a picnic for a couple, don’t you think?”

 

Cas nods, but doesn’t add anything else. He simply spins on the spot, looking for their way out.

 

“There. In the trees, there’s a path through the brush.” Sam point it out, leading the way.

 

This time, they find themselves on a beach. There’s a hut nearby, and four chairs in a row down by the water, but other than that it’s entirely deserted. Cas heads over to the hut and finds three beds there, which only confuses him more. 

 

“Cas! Here, there’s a path through the water, look!”  

 

He follows Sam’s voice to where the hunter’s standing, staring at a divide in the water, like someone parted it and pushed it aside. 

 

They’re in Purgatory. 

 

“Michael tried to keep him in Purgatory?” Sam asks, frowning. Cas hums, taking a few steps forward.

 

“Evidently. See if you can find a way through.” 

 

They stumble on a path made of twisted trees, so they follow that and end up in the bunker’s kitchen. The stove is on and there’s still food cooking, but Dean’s nowhere to be found. 

 

“This isn’t it. Let’s keep going.”

 

The next path leads them through to a dive bar that is far from deserted. There’s a pool table against the far wall with four people around it, and nearly every seat at the bar is filled. 

 

“Who are all these people?” Sam raises an eyebrow at Cas as they scan the room.

 

“I don’t know,” Cas answers, scanning the room once more. “Dean isn’t here, which means this is a diversion for us or that he woke up here and fought his way out of it. Let’s move on.”

 

Sam nods, pointing to the door behind the bar that’s still ajar. As they go to step through, Michael appears in front of them, though he looks like Dean. Sam’s swinging a fist at him before Cas can even process what’s happening, and Michael staggers back with a hand to his jaw. 

 

“That was a good swing, Sammy.” Michael smirks, straightening and clenching his fist. Cas situates himself between the archangel and Sam within a second, deflecting Michael’s punch and knocking him off balance. He grabs onto Sam’s arm before Michael can regain his footing, tugging the hunter through the door.

 

They find themselves in a motel. Dean’s duffle bag is on the bed next to Cas’s, with Sam’s on the other bed and Jack’s on the couch. 

 

“I don’t remember this motel. Guess that’s not surprising, they all blur together after a while,” Sam muses, his eyes drifting around the room before settling on Castiel. Cas narrows his eyes when he finally hears it. Sam zeros in on it at the same time and they both turn to the bathroom door as it swings open

 

“Dean,” Cas breathes, eyes widening. 

 

Dean turns and smiles at him. It’s such a bright, happy smile that it throws Cas off. Dean crosses the room and pulls Cas into a kiss, which feels like it should be far more shocking than it is, frankly.

 

“Hey, babe. Sammy called the shower next, but it’s all yours after that.” 

 

Sam glances at Cas, smirking. He’s clearly far less confused than Castiel, which is disconcerting. “God, as much as I’d love to rub this in, we should really get out of here.”

 

Dean frowns. “And go where? We’re still a twenty hour drive from the bunker, there’s no point driving that straight through, ‘specially not with all of us being human.”

 

“Babe?  _ Human _ ?” Castiel asks, squinting at Dean. “Since when?”

 

Dean raises an eyebrow at him. “You gave up your grace to keep Heaven running, remember? ‘Bout six months ago?”

 

Sam snorts. “Cas, not really the time. We should set that weirdness aside and address it at another time.” 

 

“What the hell are you going on about?” Dean glares between them, crossing his arms over his chest. 

 

“This isn’t real, Dean,” Cas murmurs, taking a deep breath to steady himself as he continues, “Michael’s keeping you locked away in a fantasy so you don’t fight against him while he uses you for… well, it doesn’t matter. You need to wake up, Dean. This isn’t real, none of this is real. He’s trying to keep you from ejecting him.”

 

“Michael?” Dean frowns, stepping backwards, away from Cas and Sam. “Michael’s dead. We killed him in Kansas City, almost a year ago now.”

 

Sam shakes his head. “He just made you think that. He’s very much alive and he’s possessing you. We’ve got him in angel cuffs right now, but you’ve gotta wake up and get rid of him.”

 

Dean glances between them, shaking his head. “No way. Not possible.”

 

“You know it is, Dean,” Cas murmurs, glancing behind them. “We don’t have much time, Michael will be here any second. I need you to wake up so we can get out of here.” 

 

Dean opens his mouth to answer but they’re interrupted by Sam being shoved across the room and Cas getting a fist to his face. He staggers back, his hand flying up to cover his bleeding nose. 

 

“Seems like you were just a bit too late, Castiel. If you don’t mind, I’ll be taking this mind back, you two can leave.”

 

Out of the corner of his eyes, Cas watches as Sam pushes himself off the ground and charges toward Michael, so Cas turns to face Dean. “Please, you have to realize this isn’t real, Dean. Get us out of here.”

 

“I don’t know how,” Dean mumbles, reaching a hand out to wipe some of the blood of Cas’s face. 

 

“You have to admit that this isn’t real. You’ll create a path somewhere else and we can get out of here.” 

 

Dean watches him for a moment before nodding and closing his eyes. After a moment, there’s a flash as the room rewrites itself and, in the place of the bathroom, there’s a path. Cas turns and grabs onto Sam and Dean, pulling the three of them through the door and slamming it shut behind them.

 

“Is this the Roadhouse?” Sam asks as he looks around. Cas waves him off.

 

“No time. Dean, we need to move. Quickly. Somewhere safe, somewhere Michael won’t find us. Where can we go?”

 

“In my own head? Doesn’t he know everything?”

 

Cas shakes his head. “It’s possible to hide things from an angel possessing you, especially if it’s only a vague memory to begin with. It’d take him longer to find us there.”

 

Dean doesn’t get a word out before another path appears. All three of them follow it without any hesitation.

 

“Sonny’s?” Sam glances at Dean, raising an eyebrow. “Interesting choice.”

 

Dean shrugs. “First place I ever fell in love, figured it’d work. I don’t think about it a lot.”

 

Cas nods. “It’s perfect. Let’s get inside the house.” The three of them make their way inside, settling onto the couches. “You have to eject him, Dean.”

 

Dean shakes his head. “Why? He’ll just possess me again. And even if he doesn’t, he’ll still be out there, possessing someone else.”

 

“We’ll figure it out,” Sam sighs, running a hand through his hair. “Just expel him and we’ll figure everything else out after.”

 

Dean nods after a moment, though his gaze stays locked on his own hands resting in his lap. “Fine,” he finally looks up to meet Cas’s gaze. “How do I expel him?” 

 

“Revoke your consent. Tell him he’s not welcome here. Without your consent, he’ll be forced to leave.”

 

“What about you two?”

 

“We’ll be fine,” Sam assures him, smiling gently. “We’ll wake up when you do.”

 

Dean nods and Cas watches as his eyes slip closed. “Alright Michael, time for you to get the hell out. I’m done playing this game with you. Get  _ out _ !” 

 

Cas’s eyes snap open and he finds himself back in the bunker’s library with Mary and Bobby staring at him. He turns and finds Sam waking up as well, though Dean is still out cold. Cas tugs the electrodes off his own head, setting them on the nearby table as he stands, switching the machine off. “Dean?”

 

After what feels like an eternity, Dean’s eyes flutter open. His eyes dart around the room before focusing on Castiel and the corners of his mouth tip up in a smile. “Cas. This isn’t another dream, is it?”

 

Cas chuckles softly. “I can assure you it isn’t.” He turns his gaze to Mary and Bobby. “Michael left?”

 

Bobby nods. “Few seconds before you woke up. What’s keepin’ him from possessing Dean again?”

 

“Nothing, at the moment. Though I suspect he’ll be off somewhere reevaluating his plan. In the meantime, we need to figure out the ‘back door’ he left and how to close it once and for all.” Cas frowns. “And how to kill him, I suppose.”

 

“Do we have to kill him?” Sam pipes up, raising his eyebrows. “What if we just stick him in the cage with our Michael?”

 

Dean raises an eyebrow and Cas nods slowly, tilting his head. “It’s possible, I suppose. We should focus on Dean first.”

 

Sam and Cas both help him up and Dean promptly pushes them away once he’s on his feet with a roll of his eyes. “I’m fine, guys. Let’s get to work.”

 

Sam smirks. “So Cas is babe now, huh? Didn’t know you guys had finally gotten your heads out of your asses.” Dean turns to glare at hs brother.

 

“Shut  _ up _ , Sam.”

 

Sam laughs. “Hey, I’m just saying, you seemed happy. Before we broke the illusion.”

 

Mary and Bobby glance at each other in confusion and Cas easily slips between the Winchester brothers, stopping Dean when he lunges for his little brother. Sam scurries away, cackling. Dean’s face and ears are a dark shade of red and he refuses to meet anyone’s gaze.

 

“Cas, man, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for you to see that, I-”

 

Cas cuts him off with a gentle kiss and a smile. “I assure you, it wasn’t unwelcome. Unfortunately, we don’t really have time to worry about that right now. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

 

Dean nods and begrudgingly sets off to find Sam and get his help while Cas cleans up the library and starts gathering books.

 

“I know you’re listening, Michael,” Cas mutters, glancing up at the ceiling. “I won’t let you take him. Not again. I’ll kill you before you get the chance.”

**Author's Note:**

> [rebloggable tumblr link here](https://fangirlingtodeath513.tumblr.com/post/181212836409/wake-up-a-14x0914x10-destiel-coda-read-the-full)  
> [rebloggable pillowfort link here](https://www.pillowfort.io/posts/298249)  
>  
> 
> You can find me on [Tumblr](https://fangirlingtodeath513.tumblr.com/) and [Pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.io/fangirlingtodeath513)
> 
>    
>  **Please don’t post my works anywhere without my permission.**


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